Armatur Games’ GROW: Wild West Could Have Been More

By: GeekyGamerGirl87

GROW: Wild West is an indie game that is for the casual player; that is developed and published by Armatur Games. Armatur Games, appears to be a new indie game company, as when I went to look up information for the game, it appeared that their website was still in development. However, it does show they do have other games they are working on. Before I begin my review of GROW: Wild West; I would like to thank Armatur Games for providing me with a copy of the game to play, so that I could play and review the game.

When it comes to Grow: Wild West I will say that it is without a doubt truly a casual indie game. I will admit the art style is very beautiful and I did enjoy the music. I really wanted to like this game because it did seem very relaxing but to me there was just a lot of wrongs in the game, that I just couldn’t simply ignore.

Upon starting the game, you select from eight of the icons to build your town. The icons include: a music note – that brings a musician, a pickaxe – that brings a miner, a gun – that brings the outlaws , a beer/wine bottle – that activates the saloon, a shovel – that brings the farmer , a sheriff’s badge – brings the town’s sheriff, an axe – which brings the lumberjack, and the dollar sign – which brings the banker.  You select one of these icons and then add others as you go along to create a town. That’s pretty much it. There is no real storyline to the game, simply just click each icon, and hope that you get the right combination to continue with building the town successfully. Which again because this is a casual game, I was okay with this, and did like that each icon plays off each other.

However, there is no saying , “I’m going to let the town build up before I select my next icon.” I tried doing this a multiple of times because I have been stuck at the 80% completion. Therefore, my strategy was to let the town build up some more before I apply my next element. Sadly, the game will stand still basically forcing you to play all the icons. To put it in simpler terms, if you don’t wish to play any more icons; you can sit there in a stale mate.

Ideally the game is over once each of your icons reaches a level  fifteen which is supposed to be the max level. However, there is no way to tell what level each of your icons are at.  You can’t mouse over them to see, and it doesn’t show you until the end of the game.  Also, for it to be a level fifteen I am thinking there would be at least fifteen different upgrades to the town. I believe that I have only counted four and when my game ends, it tells me that certain icons have reached max level.

Which leads me to my next issue, certain events will trigger the games end. However, the same event that previously caused the game to be over, will not trigger a game over sequence in a different playthrough. For example, my miner got drunk and kicked the sign to the mines which caused him to be killed; thus, triggering a game over screen. In another playthrough, the miner did the same thing and this time the game did not end. Another thing there was a part in the game when it appeared that an Outlaw and a Native American woman were going to get married. Instead of them getting married the game ended. This happened twice leaving me at the 80% completion mark. I have started to speculate that perhaps the game could not be completed and that there is no way to get to the 100% completion.

The game does offer ten achievements that you can collect in the game. Though, these achievements are only in the game and are not steam achievements. I found that to be strange because why include achievements in the game, if you were not going to make them steam achievements as well.  The game also does not have the trading cards feature either, which isn’t a big issue as some of the other issues that the game presented.

Overall, I cannot say that I recommend this game in it’s current state. I feel that if they would have put a little more effort into the game, this could have been a better game then what it is. Although, it is a casual indie game and I do like the art style and the music; I felt that it’s too many inconsistencies that prevents it from being great. It really feels that perhaps the game was a tad bit rushed. Hopefully, their other games are better, and I look forward to seeing those other games when they do release, because as they are a new company I want to see them succeed. If you would like to play GROW: Wild West, you can purchase a copy of the game on Steam for $2.99 USD. However, I would suggest waiting until it goes on sale to purchase it.